- Mavis Villiers
-
Mavis Villiers, born Mavis Clare Cooney (18 January 1911, Sydney, Australia — died March 1976, Paddington, London, England), was a British actress of stage, film and television. Her brother was Cecil Cooney, a camera operator and cinematographer.[1] Her stage name, Villiers, was taken from her maternal grandfather.[2] She began her career as a child film actor in Australia, but no specific credits or references can be found.[3]
Mavis migrated to the United States with her family in 1921, aged 11.[1] The family settled in Hollywood, where her father became a technician at a film company.[4][5] Both Mavis and her brother Cecil began their careers in the silent era; her first accredited film role was as 'the Girl' in a 1927 short comedy, The Bum's Rush, featuring expat Australian star Snub Pollard. Following her parents divorce, Mavis and her mother Clara migrated to London, England, in 1933.[6] Her brother Cecil followed at some stage; her father remained in California where he died at Ventura in 1960.[7]
Her stage roles included that of Mrs Van Mier in the 1962 London production of Noel Coward's Sail Away (musical) at the Savoy Theatre.[8] She was also in the Cast of the 1957 West End production of Damn Yankees at the London Coliseum; this production featured Australian actor Bill Kerr as Mr. Applegate.[9] Her sole appearance on the American Broadway stage, was in the role of Aunt Lizzy Sweeney, in the first Broadway production of Brian Friel's Philadelphia Here I Come! at the Helen Hayes Theatre in 1966;[10][11] she also played the same role in the 1975 film version of that play, her last role before her death.[12]
She had appeared in films from 1927 to 1975. Some of her more prominent film roles, that best showcase her talent, were in: The Bum's Rush (1927) starring Snub Pollard; Saloon Bar (1940) starring Gordon Harker; South American George (1941) starring George Formby; One Exciting Night (1944) starring Vera Lynn; Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) (based on Tennessee Williams' play) starring Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift; Victim (1961) starring Dirk Bogarde; and Philadelphia, Here I Come! (1975).[13]
Her television appearances between 1938 and 1972, include roles in various productions, series and episodes. They include the BBC's Sunday Night Theatre, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents, The Vise, The Twilight Zone, The Saint (TV series), From a Bird's Eye View and Night Gallery.
Contents
Family and death
Mavis met her future husband, Captain Donald E. Miller, at The American Eagle Club in Charing Cross Road, London, in 1941. The club was one not dissimilar to that depicted in her film One Exciting Night; and Mavis was working at the club at that time. Donald was a Pilot Officer in the American Eagle Squadrons attached to the Royal Air Force. He was subsequently shot down over Germany and taken prisoner for two years until released on VE day in 1945. The couple were married in London on 16 June 1945 and planned to settle in the United States after Mavis had completed a contractual obligation to appear in a French film, Le Battalion du ciel (1946).[3] Before they could be reunited, Donald, now working for Pan-American Airways in San Francisco, died from injuries sustained in a car accident on 4 April 1946, nine months after their marriage.[14] The union was childless and Mavis never remarried. Mavis died from pneumonia at her Paddington flat in 1976, aged 65.[15]
Selected filmography
- A Lady's Morals (1930)
- It's Never Too Late to Mend (1937)
- An Englishman's Home (1940)
- Saloon Bar (1940)
- Sailors Don't Care (1940)
- Gasbags (1941)
- Hi Gang! (1941)
- South American George (1941)
- Went the Day Well? (1942)
- One Exciting Night (1944)
- Corridor of Mirrors (1948)
- Pool of London (1951)
- Time Is My Enemy (1954)
- The Mouse That Roared (1959)
- Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)
- A Touch of Larceny (1959)
- Victim (1961)
- The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961)
- The Boys (1962)
- Promise Her Anything (1965)
External links
Footnotes
- ^ a b Canadian Passenger Lists, 'Niagra' May 1921, Ancestry.com
- ^ Australia Marriage Index, Clara Smythe m.28/12/1904, Ancestry.com
- ^ a b Dixon Evening Telegraph, (Sept 7, 1945), Dixon Illinois, p.3, Ancestry.com
- ^ Ancestry.com
- ^ Ancestry.com
- ^ Ancestry.com
- ^ Ancestry.com
- ^ Broadwayworld.com
- ^ University of Kent Library-Theater Collection
- ^ IBDb.com
- ^ The Bridgeport Post, (Feb 17, 1966), Connecticut, p.14, Ancestry.com
- ^ IMDb.com
- ^ IMDb.com
- ^ Dixon Evening Telegraph, (April 8, 1946), Dixon Illinois, p.1 6, Ancestry.com
- ^ General Register Office,London Mavis Clare Miller d.March 1976
Categories:- 1911 births
- 1976 deaths
- Australian film actors
- Australian stage actors
- Australian television actors
- British film actors
- British stage actors
- British television actors
- Deaths from pneumonia
- People from Paddington
- People from Sydney
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
